I have a 02 F250 with 137 thousand miles. When it had 130 thousand on it I had the plugs changed unknowing that this year 5.4 was known for blowing the plugs. Has anyone else had this problem and how did you fix it.

 

I just had that problem on my '01 F-150 5.4. Dealership said that it is because, there isn't that much thread there for the plug to attach to. (Don't know for sure, I'm not very mechanical).

 

that is the reason why it happens. ford has a recomended version of a healer coil that they want you to use. I didn't put it in mine (had the garage do it.) but i had it happen on the #4 and #8 plug within 6 months of eachother. although ford told me it was more from someone not putting them at proper torque than the small amount of thread. depending on how mechanical you are. you can get the part from napa. and do it yourself. but given how far in the cavity the plug sits. and the fact you want to clean everything out of there. you may wanna have a garage do it. my local garage charged me about 200.00 but mechanic charges vary.

 

I thought that they called it a "Heilicoil", but may be wrong. I'd had the dealership install the plugs 90,000 miles prior, so I guessed that they torqued them.

ALSO, just had the right side exhaust manifold replaced for the second time !!!!!! <Grrrrrrrr> FORD needs to address this !!!!!!

 

Wow, ok for starters it is a 2V modular problem. Yes the heads have 4 threads, '03s got 8. The problem seems to start from improper torquing on the plugs when they are replaced. One of the first signs of a problem is a tick from the plug coming loose. The only "fix" is an insert although helicoil is the worst of the bunch. You want to use a timecert or some other fully sleeved insert that will balloon at the bottom. A few guys have installed a full set of inserts on their heads before any plugs blew.

So far I've had 2 plugs pop both over 220K miles.

 

Timeserts work well. They have a nice kit that you can use to put in the insert with the heads on the truck. Full Torque inserts are probably the better option but I haven't personally used them.

 

What he said. With only 4 threads in an aluminum head, they do not tolerate gorillas too stupid to use a torque wrench. Under OR overtorquing will lead to issues. That's kinda why engineers provide specifications....
The vast majority of owners never have an issue, so don't lose sleep over it.

 

i have the same problem i had cylinders 3 and 4 go out within 5000 miles i helicoiled both of them myself. its a pain in the a** to do my truck has 160k miles and i just did it again in cylinder 3. that combined with the fact that the trans is going out as well is why i am looking to swap a different motor in.
helicoils are a decent choice its about 45 for a kit to do it yourself and 3 or 4 hundred if you get a shop to do it.
another option is to get a set of aftermarket heads. trick flow has a set for 2k and thats about the cheapest ive found. i just dont want to deal with the 5.4l anymore so im swapping out a different motor. if you want the link to trickflows website look for my forum called engine swap its in this section. someone posted it.

 

Sounds like somebody went ape on your plugs - sorry to hear that. Buy them a torque wrench for X-mas. But IMHO, this is far from a good reason to abandon a very good engine. Fix the problem and it is fixed.

As far as inserts go, helicoils are good products and I use many of them in places other than sparkplugs. They are definitely NOT the best solution for spark plugs - they are far more likely to back out than the Timeserts or Full Torque. These cost more, but are more reliable as they are lock into place.

 

7000 miles later a plug blows out.

Look, your plug blew out because the plugs installed at 130k were overtightened. That is the usual cause. You only tighten the plugs just past finger tight, at 12 ft/lbs IIRC.

This is repaired by using a Time-Sert thread repair kit, not a helicoil.

++ TIME-SERT Threaded inserts for stripped threads, threaded inserts, thread repair stripped sparkplug's, Ford sparkplug blowouts, threaded inserts threaded, repair stripped threads, stripped threads, inserts threaded inserts, Ford spark plug repair,

 

I have saw and fixed alot of these in the shop. I dont like to see a plugs not go over 75k. When I torque them I do it to fords spec of 14ft lbs and use A digital 3/8 drive snap on tech wrench (its a little pricy at $500 but worth it if you wrench everyday) and its callibrated every year and is put on my dealers torque gauge every 2 months. I have never had a problem and all the ones I have fixed I have used a napa helicoil kit and have not saw one fail but there is not a gaurantee if you had a blow out on a helicoil holding

 

So 03's wont have this problem if the plugs are installed correctly or can it still happen with more threads. Im assuming no

 

O3's are extremely, extremely unlikely to have it happen IF (and only if) the plugs are correctly installed.

02's and earlier are only extremely unlikely to have it happen if the plugs are correctly installed.

On the other hand, both are extremely likely to have it happen if the plugs are under or over torqued. It's just the 03+ can be more grossly overtorqued before failing. This is NOT a Ford or a Ford Modular issue. It is true of ANY threaded fastener or spark plug. True, different designs can take a LOT more abuse before failure, but it can be done. I had to repair one on a BMW 525 engine. They have about 15 full threads AND use a compression washer rather than taper seat. I'm guessing some moron cranked them down to something like 100+ ft-lbs to destroy them.

Keep in mind, with a taper seat spark plug, that "extra 1/8 turn for good measure" is not making the plug more likely to stay tight, it is merely shearing the threads out of the head. Permanently.

I will congratulate other manufacturers for coming up with MORE idiot proof designs (like compression washers!), but that does not, in my mind, mean Ford is negligent or it is a defective design. At worst, I would call them foolish for underestimating the incompetence of some mechanics and owners and not using a more robust design.

 

Well my F250 is a 2003 and I just had #2 blow out. 2 years ago the first one had blown out in a different cylinder. Cost me $200 to get it repaired. Am going to look into these Time-serts. If it's anything like installing a helicoil it shouldn't be too bad.

Terry

 

The time-sert installation kit is excellent. Makes it even easier to install than a helicoil. Almost fun as far as these things go. Just a well designed and made product.